4870 in Crossfire or 5850?

[silasmoon]

Right now I have a 4870 (512mb) and it has been a great card. My brother recently gave me an $80 gift certificate to NewEgg, and I am wanting to upgrade my graphics.

Should I get another 4870 (512mb) to put it in Crossfire, or should I get a 5850? (Possibly 5870?)

The crossfire would essentially cost me $70, where the 5850 would be $170.

I play at a resolution of 1680x1050 on a 22'' LG monitor. (W2252TQ)

I play Batman: Arkham Asylum, Fallout 3, COD4, and will buy COD: Modern Warfare 2, Starcraft 2, and Diablo 3.

I want to be able to really crank the graphics up to full-blown max. But it's foreseeable that in the next year or two I will have a 1900x1200 display or even larger (LCD or LED TV). I know there are a limited number of DX 11 games out there, but I wonder if things like D3 will be in DX 11?

My system specs are as follows:

Q6600 @ 3.5ghz
Asus Rampage Formula MoBo
4 gigs OCZ Reaper RAM
750w Corsair PSU
Antec 1200 case
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Thoughts / suggestions? Thanks everyone!

 

[pauldh]

...Can I reasonably substitute a 4870x2 as 4870's in crossfire, or is this a misconception due to the scaling issues that exist with crossfire.

With current drivers, sure. We saw some variances when the 4870x2 first launched. Just keep in mind the advantage the 4870X2 will have over yours at the highest resolution do to double the memory (1GB per core vs your 512MB per core).

I've seen crossfire scaling well even at 1280x1024. It's not really resolution dependent per say... just takes a GPU limited situation. The big questions are 1) do you require more GPU power in your games at that resolution?, and 2) is the CPU holding back the cards from scaling well in benchie charts?

Look at COD4 for example... High scaling at 12x10 4xAA - http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4870-x2-review-crossfire/12
Compared to the more CPU limited GRID with therefore little scaling: http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4870-x2-review-crossfire/11

BTW: seems to be a driver issue in their Crysis testing as crossfire is scaling quite well now in that game.

Anyway, IMO if you desire more GPU power for your games, a second 4870, a 5850, or a 5870 are all good option. Personally I would not hesitate to add a second 4870 512MB if still found for $125 or less.

 

[pauldh]

5850 definitely. Maybe just a tad bit slower but future proof. Also, a few years down the line when you find your FPS is getting low, then just drop a second 5850 in. It'll be cheap then. 4870 crossfire has no upgradability.

+1. I still like this this plan too, of course people will likely then say don't add another 5850...get an HD 6850, etc. 😉

 

[jay2tall]

5850 definitely. Maybe just a tad bit slower but future proof. Also, a few years down the line when you find your FPS is getting low, then just drop a second 5850 in. It'll be cheap then. 4870 crossfire has no upgradability.

Statement in another 10 months:

"6850 definitely. Maybe just a tad bit slower but future proof. Also, a few years down the line when you find your FPS is getting low, then just drop a second 6850 in. It'll be cheap then. 5870 crossfire has no upgradability."

Another 4870 is a cheap upgrade to what you already have and wins over a 5850 in almost every case. You can grab one on ebay for under $100.

 

[silasmoon]

Statement in another 10 months:

"6850 definitely. Maybe just a tad bit slower but future proof. Also, a few years down the line when you find your FPS is getting low, then just drop a second 6850 in. It'll be cheap then. 5870 crossfire has no upgradability."

Another 4870 is a cheap upgrade to what you already have and wins over a 5850 in almost every case. You can grab one on ebay for under $100.

This is what I am worried about. This constant loop of, "but wait! There's more!" I might have a difficult time selling my 4870, I can't really find a buyer. But I want to really crank up the eye candy at 1650x1080. I am talking full AA, Filtering, etc. I know the RAM issue isn't that big of a deal at this resolution, and that it is mostly dealing with architecture. Will crossfiring allow for me to crank up the AA / Filtering / etc, and still get good FPS, or am I going to have to get a 5850 for that? I also wonder how limited I will be in 1+ years with only 512mb of RAM. I guess then would be the time to get a 5870? I also don't think DX11 is going to be coming out like wildfire. Someone else made a good point that COD4 was DX9.

 

[jay2tall]

^
I still think dropping $80-$100 for a used card on ebay isn't a bad call. Just make sure its from someone that has GOOD feedback. They are usually honest, or mostly honest. And most of them will give you no DOA guarantee. Granted I think paypal has their own guarantee and such, but you know what i mean.

You can always wait until the 5850 comes down in price or the 5870. But remember that then you will get that and then the next gen card will be right around the corner. You ALWAY ALWAYS pay premium for top of the line, ie 5850 and 5870. If you can settle for mainstream you will pay less. In this case another 4870.